Previous: Travel tips | Picofarad #8 contents | Next: Letters
Written Japanese is a mixture of many different writing systems: kanji (Chinese ideographs), hiragana (the syllabary used for native words), Chinese and Arabic numerals, romanji (the Roman alphabet, used for acronyms and decorative effect), and-- the one we'll be using here-- katakana, a syllabary exclusively for transliterating foreign words. The standard syllabary is as follows:
| A | I | U | E | O | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ア a | イ i | ウ u | エ e | オ o | |
| K | カ ka | キ ki | ク ku | ケ ke | コ ko |
| G | ガ ga | ギ gi | グ gu | コ ge | サ go |
| S/SH | サ sa | シ shi | ス su | セ se | ソ so |
| Z/J | ザ za | ジ ji | ズ zu | ゼ ze | ゾ zo |
| T/TS/CH | タ ta | チ chi | ツ tsu | テ te | ト to |
| D | ダ da | ヂ ji [1] | ヅ zu [1] | デ de | ド do |
| N | ナ na | ニ ni | ヌ nu | ネ ne | ノ no |
| F/H | ハ ha | ヒ hi | フ fu (hu) | ヘ he | ホ ho |
| B | バ ba | ビ bi | ブ bu | ベ be | ボ bo |
| P | パ pa | ピ pi | プ pu | ペ pe | ポ po |
| M | マ ma | ミ mi | ム mu | メ me | モ mo |
| Y | ヤ ya | ユ yu | ヨ yo | ||
| R | ラ ra | リ ri | ル ru | レ re | ロ ro |
| W | ワ wa | ヲ o/wo [1] | |||
| N | ン n [2] | ||||
| V | ヴ vu |
[1] Not actually used in transliteration.
[2] Pronounced m when followed by b, m, or p; otherwise n.
You may also come across "extended" katakana charts, but the extra syllables are used only for writing the Ainu language.
Most of these examples are actual transliterations as found on Amazon.co.jp. Some of them, especially where it comes to vowels, may leave you scratching your head about why anyone would pick that particular Japanese sound to match the original one. Keep in mind that these are all shaped by the regional accents of both the person pronouncing the name and the person transliterating it. When transliterating your own name, you are always free to pick what sounds right to you.
The vowels are pronounced the same as in Italian, Latin, Spanish, and a whole pile of other languages, and Japanese allows for some diphthongs:
| a | Short "ah" |
| e | The first sound in "ay" |
| i | Short "ee" |
| o | The first sound in "oh" |
| u | Short "oo" (very weak, especially after unvoiced consonants) |
| ai | "Eye" |
| au | "Ow" |
| ei | "Ay" |
| oi | "Oy" |
| ou | "Oh" |
Most of the consonants are pronounced like in English, the exceptions being f and r. The Japanese f is really an h, pronounced with the lips in the "oo" position.
To find the point of articulation for r, put the tip of your tongue behind your teeth, then move it back until you feel the ridge a little way behind them. That's the alveolar ridge. Pronounce a flipped r (like in Italian or Spanish) right there.
The schwa (the "uh" or "er" sound) becomes a, and all vowels can be doubled by adding ー. For example:
May メイ Mei
Sawyer ソウヤー Souyaa
The first transliteration problem many of you will notice is that aside from n, all syllables end in a vowel. What do you do if you have two consonants in a row, or a consonant at the end of a word? Well, to start with, most consonants can be doubled:
| To double... | Do this... |
|---|---|
| m, n | Insert ン before it |
| r, w, y | Can't do that |
| Any other consonant | Insert ッ (small tsu) before it |
Otherwise, use the u-syllable for the consonant which has no vowel after it. If there is no corresponding u-syllable, use the following:
| If you want... | Use... |
|---|---|
| ch | chi |
| d | do |
| j | ji |
| sh | shi |
| t | to |
For example:
Brin ブリン Burin
Drake ドレイク Doreiku
Priest プリースト Puriisuto
Adams アダムズ Adamuzu
Also, consonants at the ends of words, pronounced with aspiration (a puff or air following), are sometimes transliterated as doubled consonants.
Some sounds aren't in the alphabet at all, and so we have to use the nearest available approximation.
| If you have... | Substitute... |
|---|---|
| l | r |
| th (as in these) | z |
| th (as in tooth) | s |
For example:
Smith スミス Sumisu
Lem レム Remu
Heinlein ハインライン Hainrain
The English r is particularly problematic because it's nothing at all like the Japanese r. If followed by a vowel, it becomes an r-syllable:
Robinson ロビンソン Robinson
However, when followed by a consonant, it assimilates into the preceding vowel, which is doubled in length:
Card カード Kaado
Clarke クラーク Kuraaku
An r at the end of a word, trailing a vowel, sounds like "er" to the Japanese, and is treated accordingly:
Bear ベア Bea
Japanese also allows composite syllables to be formed. For a start, you can combine any i-syllable except for shi, ji, or chi with ya, yu, or yo, to get a syllable with a y-infix. So, for instance, キ ki plus ヤ ya forms キャ kya.
Hughart ヒューガート Hyuugaato
For shi, ji and chi, this process forms syllables without a y, thus: ジャ ja, ジュ ju, etc. You can also use e to complete the set.
Shaw ショー Shoo
Cherryh チェリー Cherii
Finally, for some consonant/vowel combinations still not covered, you can use other syllables plus the a-i-u-e-o series, as indicated in the table below.
| If you want... | Use... |
|---|---|
| di | ディ (de + small i) |
| f-syllables | fu + small vowels |
| ng | Substitute ngu |
| si | Substitute shi |
| ti | ティ (te + small i) |
| tu | Substitute tsu |
| v-syllables | vu + small vowels (In older transliterations, b-syllables were used instead.) |
| w-syllables | u + small vowels |
| w in the middle of a syllable | Split into u syllable and a vowel syllable |
| zi | Substitute ji |
For example:
Langford ランフォード Ranfoodo
Rowling ローリング Rooringu
Silverberg シルヴァーバーグ Shiruvaabaagu
Wells ウェルズ Weruzu
Willis ウィリス Wirisu
Simmons シモンズ Shimonzu
Vinge ヴィンジ Vinji
Keep your names in Western order, and use ・ to separate them:
Terry Pratchett テリー・プラチェット Terii Purachetto
And initials are kept in the Roman alphabet:
Ursula K. Le Guin アーシュラ・K・ル・グイン Aashura K. Ru Guin (syllabified Gu-in)
Previous: Travel tips | Picofarad #8 contents | Next: Letters